Colmar Pocket

The Colmar Pocket was an area in Alsace defended by the encircled German 19th Army in early 1945 during World War II. The US 6th Army Group under General Jacob L. Devers, including both US Army and French Army troops, encircled the 19th Army's 7 infantry divisions, 1 mountain division, and one panzer brigade in Colmar and began the painstaking process of clearing the gap of German resistance. The German troops were boxed into the pocket, and they fought fanatically, knowing that it was a life-or-death situation. The Allies suffered 21,390 losses before closing the gap on 9 February 1945, and the Germans lost up to 38,500 troops in the devastating battle.